The Romanian Cultural Institute in London is honoured and overjoyed to host Mircea Cărtărescu, one of Europe’s most imaginative and influential literary voices, for a special series of events marking the UK launch of Blinding: The Left Wing, the first volume of his monumental Blinding trilogy, translated by Sean Cotter and newly published by Penguin Classics.
The UK tour will take place at Bookhaus Bristol and Waterstones King’s Road, and culminate in a special evening at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, where the author will be in dialogue with journalist and editor Miriam Bălănescu.
On this page, you can ONLY confirm your attendance at the RCI London event. See below for other tour dates.
Tuesday 18 November, 6pm / Bookhaus Bristol
In conversation with Darran McLaughlin, Bookhaus manager and co-founder of the Bristol Transformed festival.
Tickets £7. Book HERE.
Wednesday 19 November, 7pm / Waterstones London, King’s Road
In conversation with literary critic and author Leo Robson.
Tickets £10/ £20 (with book purchase). Book HERE.
Thursday 20 November, 7pm / RCI London, 1 Belgrave Square
Free entry. Please RSVP HERE.
The first Romanian author to have been longlisted for the prestigious International Booker Prize, winner of the Dublin Literary Award (2024), FIL Prize for Literature in Romance Languages, Formentor Prize and Thomas Mann Prize, Mircea Cărtărescu has been hailed by critics worldwide as a defining voice of contemporary European fiction. His works — from Nostalgia and Solenoid to the Blinding trilogy — blend dreamlike imagination, philosophical reflection, and poetic intensity in a style that is unmistakably his own.
For the first time, British readers can experience Blinding in the land where world literature thrives and we could not be prouder to celebrate this milestone with Penguin Classics, our distinguished partners in bringing Romania’s greatest storyteller to the English-speaking world.
